Boyden, Iowa

Fire officials say they discovered the body of Spencer man after an electric space heater caused a sofa at his apartment to start on fire.

Bob Hicks wrote a fabulous story on the Sitka Center for Art & Ecology last weekend.

Emmetsburg, Ia. - Poet's planned ethanol plant that would process corncobs rather than corn kernels faces a "Field of Dreams"-like question: If Poet builds the plant, will farmers come with the cobs? ...

jvisser@ncppub.com

Immigration is a huge issue in our communities and throughout the nation.  Yet, it is a complex matter without an obvious and good solution.

But after approximately 100 concerned citizens crowded into a weekly meeting of the Sioux County Board of Supervisors last February, Supervisor Dennis Wright knew something had to be done.  The former Boyden-Hull teacher, who lives in Hull, was instrumental in forming a county focus group to at least begin talking about the topic.

Reported scores from around the state: Boyden-Hull-RV 34, Sibley-Ocheyedan 0 Central Lyon-GLR 35, Sheldon 0 Conrad BCLUW 33, Jackson Junction Turkey Valley 18 Hinton 20, Sloan Westwood 3 Lawton-Bronson 40, ...

A George, Iowa, teenager faces charges after a Sept. 11 accident near Boyden, Iowa.

Siouxland Floral in Hull is celebrating 20 years of business with new products, a new look, new events and a grand sale.

Owner Dar Sohl is hoping that by combining the 20th anniversary and the fall open house, more people will stop in to see all the changes at the business, which is located on Highway 18.

"We've repainted, using warm colors and that changed the look of the whole place," she said.  "Plus, we've added lots of new home decor, including artwork, prints, pottery, center pieces, candles, sconces and glassware.  Terrie DeJong has made a lot of new fall arrangements."

26-YEAR-OLD NICHOLAS LANDMAN OF BOYDEN WAS SERIOUSLY INJURED IN THE ACCIDENT TWO MILES NORTH OF BOYDEN ON SEPTEMBER 11TH.

The assembly was called Celebration Day.

Students and staff at Boyden-Hull Junior and Senior High School met in the theater last week to recognize those at the school who achieved special honor.

Representatives from the Wal-Mart store in Sioux Center presented Junior High teacher Rebecca Draayer with the annual Teacher-of-the-Year award.  She received a $100 gift card from Wal-Mart and the school received a check for $1000.

According to Store Manager Lisa DeBoer the store received lots of entries from area students for Teacher-of-the-Year.  "We ask students to write letters that let us know what they think of their teachers," she said.  "From those letters we choose our Teacher-of-the-Year."

Members of the community were invited to visit Citizen's State Bank in Boyden last Wednesday to look at the remodeling and improvements that have taken place in the facility over the past several months.

The open house gave bank employees an opportunity to point out the new carpet, furniture, countertops and harmonized colors and decorating.

The new colors in the bank have enhanced the original tile and woodwork in the bank.

"Everything is spruced up and it feels coordinated," said Bonnie Dixon the Club Director of Citizens Plus and Citizens Junior Savers.  "Even though bank employees had to work around the painters and carpet-layers during the summer, we knew that in the end it would be worth it."

"If each person in every community volunteered for just one thing and gave a little bit of their time, we could make this country even greater," stated Dennis Wright as he spoke to Boyden-Hull High School students at the first Community Action Day, last Tuesday, Sept. 23.

Wright kicked off the day as students gathered in the school theater at 8:30 in the morning.  Currently a county supervisor, Wright was a teacher at Boyden-Hull for 36 years and during that time he served as Mayor of Hull for 12 years and a member of the city council for six years.  He talked to the students about the numerous opportunities in their communities to volunteer and why they should get involved.

Back in 1983, a young Swedish girl came to Hull as a foreign exchange student.  In addition to receiving a year of education at Boyden-Hull with the class of 1984, she also formed strong ties to her host family and returned home with great memories of her time abroad.  Last week those ties and memories brought her back.

That student was Lisbeth Almen and she stayed at the home Arnold and Gayla Tiedemann, who live on a farm north of Hull.

"In 1983, our oldest daughter, Ann was graduating from high school and making plans to attend college," explained Gayla.  "Our other daughter, Kay, was getting ready for her junior year and she brought up the idea of having a foreign exchange student stay with us.  It was something she really wanted to try and it worked out great for us.  Lisbeth just fit right into our family."

Sophia M. Dykhuizen, age 99, of Sheldon passed away on Sunday, August 3, 2008, at Sanford Sheldon Senior Care in Sheldon.

Funeral services were held on Thursday, August 7, 2008, at 10:00 a.m. at the Andringa Funeral Home Sheldon Funeral Service in Sheldon with the Rev. Marcus Moffitt officiating.  Burial was held in the Sheridan Township Cemetery in Boyden.

Sophia Marie Dykhuizen was born May 5, 1909, in Bunnik, Netherlands, to John and Antonia (Burggraaf) Vander Lee. She came to America with her family at the age of five. They settled on a farm near Alton. They later moved to Nebraska, where they lived for three years. They then returned to the Boyden area.

If you've secretly always wanted to own a restaurant, this may be your chance.

Boyden is offering $20,000, a free lot and other incentives to bring a restaurant to the town of approximately 700.

"The City of Boyden has been without a family style dine-in restaurant for many years," said Troy Enger, manager of SIG International Iowa, Inc. a Boyden employer.  "This is an important need in our community."

But instead of just talking about it, Boyden is doing something to bring a food establishment to town.

Despite defeat at the polls, this month, the Le Mars, Iowa, school board is considering an Apil vote on an instructional support levy.

L. V. "Tuffy" Grooters, 88, of Sheldon and formerly of Boyden passed away on Tuesday, Sept. 16, 2008, at his residence in Sheldon.  Memorial services will be held on Friday, Sept. 19, at 11:00a.m. at the First Reformed Church in Sheldon, with the Rev. David Brower and the Rev. Gordon Bloemendaal officiating. Graveside services will be Friday, September 19th at 10:00 a.m. in the Sheridan Township Cemetery in Boyden with Military Graveside Services by the: William Monster Post # 272 American Legion of Boyden.

After three different vote changes in a week, Central Lyon School Board's race has been decided in northwest Iowa.

The Boyden-Hull/Rock Valley Nighthawks hung right with the Class 1A  #3 West Lyon Wildcats, but came up short, 22-20, in non-district football in Inwood Friday night.

The Wildcats got on the board late in the first quarter, capping a nine play, 44-yard drive with a six yard touchdown run.  The two-point conversion put West Lyon on  top, 8-0, with 4:04 remaining in the opening period.

The Nighthawks answered with 3:50 gone in the second quarter.   After a short, 21-yard punt, the Nighthawks drove 30 yards in just six plays, including a 29 yard strike from Josh Vander Maten to Nate Van Ginkel.  Keaton Grevengoed then took it in from four yards out, cutting the lead to 8-6.

The Sheldon Community School District Board of Education on Wednesday voted to apply for admission to the Siouxland Conference, a league consisting of schools such as MOC-Floyd Valley, Rock Valley, Boyden-Hull ...